Stephen Kings Thinner – Der Fluch (1996)

Stephen Kings Thinner – Der Fluch: Directed by Tom Holland. With Robert John Burke, Lucinda Jenney, Bethany Joy Lenz, Time Winters. An obese attorney is cursed by a gypsy to rapidly and uncontrollably lose weight.

“I didnu0026#39;t know what to expect from u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot;. Firstly when I saw it in the u0026quot;Whatu0026#39;s On TVu0026quot; magazine I thought of it as a serious horror film, that sounded quite eerie. You know, a man slowly getting thinner and thinner, and then of course itu0026#39;s Stephen King which is never a bad thing, and then it had 4 stars and so i thought that this film could have potential! But then I look at IMDbu0026#39;s rating and itu0026#39;s very below average so I was wary. Thankfully I was relieved when I turned it on and the first thing I saw was this clearly slim man in a ridiculous fat suit and I laughed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI pretty much laughed all the way through. Thereu0026#39;s no denying that u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; (unintentially or not) is a very funny film. You only have to look at the man and laugh at those incredible hamster-type cheeks! The fat suit is hilariously bad, not a patch on the one that Eddie Murphey wears in u0026quot;The Nutty Professoru0026quot;. The manu0026#39;s facial expressions also had me rolling down the aisles (well, u0026#39;the sitting roomu0026#39;) in every shot his eyes were wide and gleaming like heu0026#39;s just seen a massive slice of cake! His smile was also hideous. He looked like u0026quot;The Jokeru0026quot; out of u0026quot;Batmanu0026quot;. Even when heu0026#39;s eventually thin, he still wears those awful eyes and smile. The guyu0026#39;s a slug.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe special make-up effects are very special indeed. A film like u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; relies on the make-up effects. Thatu0026#39;s what made David Cronenbergu0026#39;s u0026quot;The Flyu0026quot; so amazing. Yet, the effects on u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; are almost as bad as the fat effects. One man has terrible rubber boils over his face and his hand looks like a dinosaur stump. The u0026#39;thinu0026#39; effects are also quite horrendous too. Thanks to u0026quot;Thinneru0026#39;su0026quot; visuals youu0026#39;re always sure of a laugh. I canu0026#39;t tell if weu0026#39;re meant to be taking this film seriously or not.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd then thereu0026#39;s the awful screenplay that always seems to fight for the chance to see Mr.Lawyer literally stuffing his face with food. Though, it doesnu0026#39;t help that all the actors are terrible, with the gypsy looking like u0026#39;Grandadu0026#39; out of u0026quot;Mrs Brownu0026#39;s Boysu0026quot; only with hair more luscious. Every character is a stereotype and the actoru0026#39;s seem to live up to that. No one asks questions like, u0026quot;Why have you bought home a pie?u0026quot; They just accept that and eat it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn all seriousness, u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; could have been a horror classic rather than a horror cult classic. It couldu0026#39;ve been a chilling fable of greed and the price you pay for it. Instead we get a hugely entertaining film that offers no scares what so ever. u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; is a hard film to rate because critically itu0026#39;s awful, but then again I had a ball watching this film and would happily watch it again. u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot; never bores, and the ending is actually pretty good. For guaranteed laughs, donu0026#39;t miss u0026quot;Thinneru0026quot;.”